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What's in a Name?

Because....

I've painted on the ceiling. It's fun.

I'm a G. K. Chesterton fan, and he wrote an essay about lying in bed
and wishing that he had a pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling.
(Dear Uncle Gilbert!) I like that way of thinking, of seeing an
ordinary space or a blankness and wondering: How can I make this
beautiful?

I do art with recycled materials. This means looking for art and
making art out of objects and spaces that might otherwise be discarded
or ignored.

Ceilings are there pretty much all the time. How often do we look
up? (Remind me sometime to tell you about Chrissy, the roof, and the
mailman.) We should look up more often, especially if the ceiling is
the sky.

White or otherwise bland, uniform ceilings are a modern phenomenon.
Ceilings used to be decorated, as a trip to Europe will quickly
demonstrate. I like to look at traditions and see if maybe we should go
back to them. (For example, growing our own food, making our own
clothes, living within our means....)

I prefer original and handmade to mass-produced and plastic. My painted ceiling is one of a kind!

Why Are You Doing This?

Because I'm a writer. Writers write. Real ones write regularly.

Because I want to toss something positive and beautiful out into the world.

Because
Facebook posts seem cramped and I want to be more opinionated without
feeling like I'm shoving it in people's faces. You don't have to come
here if you don't want to!

And finally, an excerpt from an email to former student about this project: Anyway, it's a silly idea, really, since there is so much else out there
and a vain idea, since what could I really contribute? But there is
also something silly and vain about the idea that everything one does
must be useful.Do you welcome comments?

Yes! I want to connect with my readers. All three of them! I love you guys--please comment, if you are so inclined, by clicking on the 'no comments' link at the bottom of the post with a vague sense of irony.

How can I thank you for enriching my life through your blog?

If you were going to buy something on Amazon anyway, start by using the portal on the right side of the page. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but we get a tiny bit of ad revenue.

Is J. Pario Your Real Name?

No. J. is based on my real name. Pario is Latin for create.When in doubt, be a verb!